


Nate Dog and the Dog

by eafay70



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Audio Format: M4A, Audio Format: MP3, M/M, Multi, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 20-30 Minutes, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-06-29 14:40:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19832314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eafay70/pseuds/eafay70
Summary: Things aren't going well for Nate:-He's accidentally burned down his workplace, which is also where he lives.-His best friend Tyson has to move to Canada for work, leaving behind his husband Gabe and their daughter Birgitta.-Birgitta, who's also Nate's goddaughter, is so unhappy about her family being pulled apart that she's accidentally made her plushies able to talk.-Bernie, one of those plushies, can not only talk, but has also become a real dog magically bonded to Nate, much to the displeasure of both dog and human.-Nate keeps making a fool of himself in front of the very attractive new customer who seems to be flirting with him.How on earth is any of this going to work out okay?!?!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this fic on and off for longer than I'd like to admit. In order to get this done for the theme challenge of the month (animals), I wound up splitting it into two chapters, the second of which is unfortunately nowhere near done.
> 
> Special thanks to Lotts for all your help in getting me this far! =D
> 
> The following characters are mentioned but don't actually appear:  
> -Sidney Crosby (as Nate's teacher/boss)  
> -Evgeni Malkin (as Sid's very new boyfriend)  
> -Patric Hornqvist (as Sgt. Horny, Gabe's friend/boss)  
> -Carl Hagelin (as Hags, Gabe's friend/coworker)  
> -Jamie Benn (as Tyson's childhood friend)  
> -Jordie Benn (as Tyson's childhood friend)
> 
> This fic is a sequel to ["Love Is In The Air (So Is Magic)"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14804214) but you don't need to have read it to follow this. (If I'm wrong, let me know!!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is my third entry in Podfic Bingo. It fulfills the July theme challenge of animals, as well as the squares Trans Character, Female Character, Child Character, and Read Deadpan.

**Links**

[MP3 (23.2 MB, runtime 20:36)](https://mega.nz/#!Su4VkCjb!OOzYIP2KMmQpyg5uTBjued7QcIajnc7fh8YJqgb9djI)

[M4A (29.1 MB, runtime 20:36)](https://mega.nz/#!7jwzTaoD!79zLTySATyf-78vq997ICPl46g1i4e2d19Uf_7lDBqc)

* * *

Nate forced himself to smile as he walked into the apartment. “Hi!”

The apartment’s residents looked up as a picture fell off the wall right next to Nate. “Your sadness is so heavy that it knocked that down!” Birgitta said.

“No, it’s just my magic making a mess,” Nate said as he walked over to his goddaughter. “I’m not sad.”

“Yes, you are, Uncle Nate,” she argued. “Papa, tell him.”

Gabe sighed. “I’m afraid she’s right. This is the saddest I’ve ever known you to be, which is why the enchanted nails didn’t hold.”

Nate sighed. Gabe was able to sense other people’s emotions; Birgitta was just starting to develop this particular kind of magic. “I guess I can’t fool a Landeskog.”

“Or a Barrie.” Tyson rested a hand on Nate’s shoulder. “What’s wrong, Nate Dog? You look and sound miserable.”

“I…” Nate blinked back the tears suddenly threatening to fall. “I ruined everything.”

“What happened?” Tyson lowered his arm and pulled Nate into a hug. “We’ll help you fix it, whatever it is.”

“You can’t.” Nate pressed his face into Tyson’s shoulder as the tears escaped. “It can’t be fixed.”

“Let us be the judge of that,” Gabe said.

“I started a fire that destroyed the shop, so now I don’t have a place to live or work.” Nate felt a familiar presence hugging his legs tightly. “Careful, Birgitta.”

“I won’t fall this time,” she said. “Was the fire the reason for the sirens? Papa said that meant someone was asking for help.”

“That’s right, sweetheart. And help did come to put out the fire, but they couldn’t save much.”

“Is Sid okay?” Gabe asked as he joined in the hug.

“Yeah. Geno came and helped Sid put out the fire, then apparently they talked about their feelings -”

“FINALLY!” Tyson interrupted.

“EXACTLY!” Nate groaned. “It was SO annoying! But Sid was blushing and holding Geno’s hand when he told me he was staying with him, so I guess you have one fewer client, Gabe.”

“Why?” Birgitta asked.

“Because Sid was signed up for the matchmaking service where Papa works,” Tyson explained.

“Actually…” Gabe chuckled for a moment. “Well, you have to swear not to tell anyone.”

Tyson nodded solemnly. “I swear not to tell anyone by Céline Marie Claudette Dion, Companion of the Order of Canada, Officer of Quebec, and Knight of the French Legion of Honor, who named me.” (Specifically, Celine Dion had appeared to him in a dream and said, “Happy to meet you, Tyson.”)

“Me, too!” Birgitta added.

“I’m afraid not, sweetheart,” Gabe said. “She didn’t appear to us in a dream and tell us what to name you, unfortunately.”

“That would have been very cool,” Tyson sighed.

“Oh,” Birgitta said. “In that case, I swear by Saint Birgitta of Sweden because Papa’s from Sweden!”

“That’ll work,” Gabe decided. “Nate?”

“I swear by the Barrie family top-secret recipe for lava cake blizzards,” Nate said.

“Perfect.” Gabe looked around dramatically, as if expecting a spy to jump out from behind the furniture. “Sid and Geno were each other’s matches. Uncle Hags arranged it after a lot of bickering with Uncle Sgt. Horny. So now Uncle Hags will get a raise, and Uncle Sgt. Horny will have to redo Uncle Hags’ lawn.”

Tyson and Birgitta started laughing very loudly. Nate only managed a soft chuckle before saying, “Let me get working on your potion, T-Bear. I think I know how to keep it from needing refrigeration while you travel.”

“NO!” Birgitta let go of Nate’s legs and ran down the hallway to her bedroom.

The grown-ups sighed and proceeded to the kitchen, where various items had fallen off of the shelves. “I wish she’d enjoy the time before I go instead of storming off in anger,” Tyson said sadly as they got to work putting everything back in place. “It’s not like I asked to be reassigned to Toronto with no time to get the paperwork for Gabe and Birgitta done.”

“It’s not just a time thing,” Gabe pointed out. “That schmuck of a boss of yours refused to approve Josty or J.T. as Kerfy’s partners even though they did their paperwork already. If he didn’t own the building where I work - ”

“Enough,” Nate ordered. “We all hate this, but none of us can change it, so let’s focus on what we can do. In my case, that’s making Tyson’s potion now so it’ll be ready for tomorrow morning.” He got to work boiling some herbs in water. “I should probably look for my own place around here.”

“Why?” Tyson asked. “You can stay with us until everything’s rebuilt.”

“With Sid and Geno getting together, I don’t think I want to live there anymore.” He shuddered slightly, then poured the potion into a container. “Here you go. Let’s put half of it in the fridge and leave half of it out to see what happens overnight.”

“You got it, Nate Dog.” Tyson did so. “And I don’t blame you for not wanting to live with the more-or-less newlyweds.”

“And if I move somewhere around here, I can visit Birgitta whenever she wants.”

“You mean always,” Gabe laughed. “I don’t think there’s a lot of one-person places around here, but we’ll help you look.”

* * *

A few hours later, Gabe and Tyson hugged Birgitta tightly before leaving for their date night. Birgitta latched onto Nate’s legs with a whimper. “It’s not fair that Daddy and Uncle Alexander have to leave. Uncle Josty and Uncle J.T. are really sad, just like Papa is.”

“We’re all really sad about it,” Nate said softly. “Do you want your dinner?”

“Okay.” Once they were sitting at the table, she asked, “Where are you going to live now?”

“I’m going to live here until I find my own place to live, hopefully somewhere near here.”

This made Birgitta smile widely. “You’re going to stay here! It’s going to be awesome!”

“It sure is! I’m very excited!”

Birgitta’s smile faltered. “But you’re still kind of sad. Do you not want to move to your own place because you’ll be lonely like Daddy says he’ll be in Canada?”

Nate nodded, even though it wasn’t the entire truth. “It’s a lot of changes, and changes can sometimes make us sad.”

“Well, you don’t have to be lonely!” Birgitta ran from the table, then came back holding a stuffed animal. “You can have Bernie!”

Bernie was a St. Bernard with a small barrel around his neck. His outfit was mostly burgundy and blue, with silver and black detailing. “Didn’t I give you him for your birthday last year?”

“Yeah, which is why you can have him back! He’s a dog, like Daddy always calls you!”

Nate smiled and picked up the plushie. “Thank you, Birgitta. Now finish eating.”

* * *

It was bedtime for Birgitta, who was snuggled under the covers with a menagerie of stuffed animals. Her favorite, Rocky Raccoon, was in his usual spot against her chest. She smiled up at Nate and asked, “Can you tell me the story of Papa and Daddy?”

“Of course.” Nate stroked her hair and began to speak:

_Once upon a time, there lived a young fellow named Tyson whose magic always made a mess. His parents sent him to a special school for additional training, where he met a very handsome young fellow named Nate. Unfortunately, the school wasn’t very good - when they graduated, their magic was just as bad as when they’d arrived. However, they had become fast friends, and it turned out that Nate had a knack for potions. So he was able to help Tyson with a special potion that would make him look right._

_They moved to a distant town so Nate could become an apprentice to a guy he knew from his hometown. Tyson became a musician like his father. On March 30th, the birthday of his patron saint Celine Dion, Tyson held a big concert in her honor. Nate’s teacher knew a lot of people in town, so a lot of people came to the concert. Among them was a blond man whose magic had to do with people’s feelings. Tyson fell in love right away and wouldn’t shut up about it all night, which Nate found so annoying that he dragged the two of them into a booth so they could meet properly. The blond man, whose name was Gabe, fell in love with Tyson after a few dates and stayed in love with him even after learning what Tyson used to look like. So they got married and had a little daughter thanks in part to some magic Tyson had done on himself years earlier and in part to a very generous woman with very powerful magic. When Tyson saw the little daughter, he groaned and said, “How am I supposed to discipline someone who looks just like my perfect Swedish husband?!” Nate laughed so much that he was named her godfather. The end!_

“Thank you, Uncle Nate. Night-night!”

“Sweet dreams, Birgitta.” He walked out of her room, leaving the door slightly ajar so he could hear her if she called for him, then settled on the bed in the guest room to read a book recommended by Tyson.

“I just want him to be happy.”

Nate put down the book and frowned. Who was Birgitta talking to??

“Some people are happy without a partner.” Nate didn’t recognize the voice, though the accent sounded like Tyson’s. “Maybe he’s one of those people.”

“I don’t think so. Daddy says he should sign up for the matchmaking service where Papa works. He wouldn’t say that if Uncle Nate was one of those people.”

This was getting creepy. Nate hurried down the hallway and knocked on the bedroom door. “Birgitta?”

There was silence for a moment before she said, “Come in.”

Nate did so. “I heard you talking to someone.”

“Yeah, to Rocky.” She made the raccoon wave.

“Rocky…” Nate gulped nervously. “Were you talking, too?”

“Yes,” the raccoon said in the voice from earlier.

Nate forced himself not to scream. “Why didn’t anyone tell me your dad enchanted your plushie?”

“He didn’t.” Birgitta looked away from Nate. “I did it by accident the night after Daddy told me he was leaving.” 

“She was sad that she wouldn’t get to hear his special voice anymore, and she wondered if I would have his special voice, so I started talking,” Rocky explained. 

“That makes sense,” Nate acknowledged. “Your Uncles Jamie and Jordie gave you Rocky when you were first born. They’re from the same place as your dad, so they all have the same accent - special voice - and so does Rocky.” He frowned. “Do your fathers know?”

Birgitta shook her head. “Daddy and Papa don’t know because I don’t want to get in trouble for doing magic without a grownup.”

“If it was an accident, then you won’t get in trouble.”

“Really?” Birgitta and Rocky asked.

“Really,” Nate nodded. “I can help you tell them tomorrow morning, okay?”

“Okay,” they nodded.

“Now get some sleep.” Nate kissed Birgitta’s forehead. “I love you, sweetie.”

“We love you, too!”

Nate left the bedroom and returned to the guest room. He looked at Bernie, whom he’d placed on the nightstand, and picked him up with a sigh. “I hope you can keep me from being so lonely I make a mess of things.” Not wanting to read anymore, he stretched out on the bed, falling asleep quickly.

* * *

Nate woke up to someone licking his face. He opened his eyes, saw Bernie, and screamed. “WHY ARE YOU ALIVE?!”

“Good morning to you, too!” The dog who was now the size of a real-life St. Bernard, poked him in the stomach. “Get up, new owner! Where’s breakfast?”

“You’re a plushie! Plushies don’t eat!”

By now, everyone else was entering the room. “It wasn’t me!” Tyson said quickly. “It’s my kind of magic, but I swear it wasn’t me!”

“It was me.” Birgitta seemed close to tears. “I wished for Uncle Nate to not be alone.”

“Oh, sweetie…” Tyson pulled her close, then furrowed his brow. “Who’s licking me?”

“Me,” Rocky said from where he was squished between Birgitta and Tyson.

“We were going to tell you today,” Nate said.

“I accidentally made Rocky able to talk,” Birgitta said quickly. “Uncle Nate heard us last night.”

Gabe and Tyson exchanged looks. “Birgitta, you’re not in trouble,” Gabe said. “But you should have told us right away. We would have helped you control it better.”

“Yeah…” Tyson was looking over Bernie now. “This is pretty powerful magic. You definitely need to learn how to control it. But it looks like Bernie is also attached to Nate Dog somehow, too. I don’t quite understand it, to be honest.”

“He’s my human now.” Bernie didn’t exactly sound happy about it.

“Does Bernie mean that Uncle Nate has to move out now?”

“No,” Tyson said decisively. “They can stay here until Uncle Nate gets settled in his new place. This just changes the criteria for his new place a little bit.”

“Exactly.” Nate gave Bernie a tentative pet. “But let’s eat first.”

“And call Aunt Jocelyne,” Gabe added. He was referring to Jocelyne Lamoureux, Birgitta’s surrogate mother who lived a few blocks away and visited every so often. “She’ll know what to do.”

Jocelyne came about an hour later. Birgitta tearfully explained what had happened: “I accidentally made Rocky talk, then I accidentally made Bernie real, and I don’t know what I’m going to accidentally do next!”

“Sh, sh,” Jocelyne whispered soothingly. “Did something happen to make you feel lots of big feelings, darling?”

Birgitta pointed to Tyson, who explained, “I’ve been reassigned to Toronto and can’t take them with me. We’re all really upset about it.”

“I see.” Jocelyne held out her hand. “Rocky, Bernie, may I look at you?”

“Okay,” they both said.

Jocelyne examined Rocky, then Bernie. “Yes, I see...All the worry and sadness made Birgitta’s magic burst out twice. The second time, it mixed with Nate’s magic and became stronger, which is why Bernie became a real dog even though Rocky didn’t become a real raccoon. And the addition of Nate’s magic is why Bernie’s connected to him now.”

“Is it permanent?” Gabe asked.

“Yes, but Nate can use his magic to turn Bernie into a talking plushie and back again if he wants to for any reason.”

“So I’m stuck with this screeching human?” Bernie frowned. “I can’t stay with my friends and the nice human?”

“Nate Dog is very nice!” Tyson insisted.

“And I don’t screech!” Nate added.

Jocelyne sighed. “Bernie, if you want to stay here, you can. But Birgitta isn’t powerful enough yet to switch you intentionally the way Nate can. If she did it accidentally, you’d get stuck and probably lose your ability to speak.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Bernie sighed. “I guess I can stick with him, at least for now.”

“Thanks for your support,” Nate replied.

* * *

That afternoon, some time after Jocelyne had left, Tyson suggested that they all take Bernie for a walk to the park. Birgitta seemed conflicted about taking one of her stuffed animals out of the apartment since it wasn’t usually allowed, but Bernie himself convinced her: “I want to meet the other humans you always tell us about!”

They didn’t see anyone else in the building, but they did see three other residents of the building in the park. “Uncle Alexander! Uncle Josty! Uncle J.T.!” Birgitta waved and pointed to Bernie. “Meet Uncle Nate’s new dog!”

The three husbands walked over and bent to pet Bernie. “Aren’t you a cute boy?” J.T. cooed.

“Red hair and a windbreaker? You must be Uncle Jimothy Timothy.” Bernie and Nate shared a grin as J.T. scowled and Josty chuckled. “Your curly hair makes you Uncle Josty, Junior.”

“Yeah! We have the same eyes!”

“No, we don’t,” Bernie explained with mock patience. “I’m a plushie brought to life, not an actual dog, so I’m not colorblind. I said I could see the red hair, after all.”

Josty frowned. Alexander waved. “So I’m guessing you know who I am?”

“Uncle Alexander Kerfoot,” Bernie growled. “You’d better not do anything that might mess with Birgitta’s fathers’ marriage when you go to Canada.”

“I won’t,” Alexander promised. “I don’t want to jeopardize my marriage, either.”

Nate met Tyson’s eyes and blinked in surprise. Tyson leaned down to hug Birgitta. “When we get back home, I want you to tell all your stuffed animals that they don’t have to worry about Papa and me staying married, okay? I know I sometimes say confusing things, but I will never, ever do or say anything that could possibly damage my relationship with my perfect Swedish husband.”

“Okay,” Birgitta said. “But what about Papa?”

Gabe leaned down to join the hug. “I’ll tell you what I tell Daddy every day: There is no force in this or any other universe that could make me stop loving Tyson Barrie.”

“Sap,” Tyson said, his voice a little watery.

* * *

Sid was able to get business up and running in a matter of days, even though the building was nowhere near repaired. It took him and Nate about two weeks to fill all the backorders from their clients, who were incredibly patient and understanding during the process. Once all that was done, things went back to normal, with Nate at the front of the store.

Since Tyson and Gabe had flexible schedules, they dropped by the store every so often to chat with Nate. They sometimes brought along Birgitta, but on this particular day, she had brought Bernie home for a tea party with J.T. 

Gabe and Tyson were arguing over what to have for dinner when a good-looking blond man came into the store. “Do you prepare items for different seasons?”

“Yeah, of course,” Nate replied, his heart starting to race. “What do you have?”

The man walked up to the counter and placed a very large jar in front of Nate. “I brought this with me from somewhere much colder, so I would like it prepared for the temperature here.”

“Where did you bring it from?” Tyson asked.

“My homeland: Finland.” The man smiled as Nate examined the jar. “I’m moving here to seek my fortune, maybe find a good man along the way.”

There was a loud crash behind Nate. He ignored it, along with Tyson’s waggling eyebrows. “Well, this should be ready tomorrow. You can come back then.”

“I look forward to it.” The man turned around, then disappeared in a puff of smoke. 

“He’s handsome,” Nate whispered.

“He’s Finnish,” Gabe scowled, also whispering.

“He’s out of the building, so let’s stop whispering,” Tyson suggested at a normal volume. “Anyway, he’s no perfect Swede, but he’s good-looking enough, I suppose. If you like him, then go for him.”

“I will,” Nate replied absently. Then his words hit him: “Wait, no, I won’t! I still don’t have a place to live, and I’m stuck with an obnoxious dog, and I haven’t dated in years!”

“You can always go to his place,” Tyson pointed out. “And I’ve been talking with Jocelyne over how to break your connection to Bernie so he can ‘belong’ to Birgitta again.”

Nate sighed. “But what about the fact that I haven’t dated since before you two met?!”

“If worse comes to worst, I’ll just shove the two of you in a booth,” Tyson said. “If it worked for Gabe and me, it’ll work for you and...unnamed Finnish dude.”

“I hope you’re right.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nate's troubles eventually get resolved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is my fourth entry in Podfic Bingo. It fulfills the August shape challenge of 3-square triangle, as well as the squares Incorporate Verbal Effects, Echo Effect, Read Sexy, and Read Animatedly.
> 
> Thanks to Lotts for even more help this time! And thanks to @lichtbeidernacht on Tumblr (whose AO3 username completely escapes me at the moment) for suggesting who should carry Birgitta and the plushies!!
> 
> (If you got two emails about this chapter: sorry! I accidentally hit Post before adding in the links to the podfic!!)

**Links**

[MP3 (21.5 MB, runtime 19:28)](https://mega.nz/#!P2A3CChJ!ehnT-FKHBJVtMA1thOU1Hs4v9if24gIiRNWDM4brMSk)

[M4A (27.5 MB, runtime 19:28)](https://mega.nz/#!WuA1QCoJ!sSTB8PreTq8km6M3FJYsM4wr91MBojiqDt62NRNb5YI)

* * *

The following day, the Finnish guy came back. “Is the jar ready?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah.” Nate took it out carefully. “Where should I send the bill?”

“Denver Hotel, room 96,” the guy smiled.

“I’ll need your name,” Nate said quickly. This wasn’t strictly true for the bill, but the guy didn’t need to know that.

“Mikko Rantanen.”

Nate hurried to write this down. “You said Mikko Rantanen.”

“And what name will be on the bill?” Mikko asked.

“Mine! Uh, Nate. Nathan MacKinnon.”

“Nate MacKinnon.” Mikko smiled a little wider. “I look forward to the bill.” He waved goodbye and left the store.

From under the counter, Bernie snorted. “That was dreadful.”

“Believe me, Nate Dog used to be much worse at this sort of thing,” Tyson chuckled.

“Hey!” Nate scowled. “You weren’t much better.”

Gabe was now laughing, too. “At least we know he has money. The Denver Hotel isn’t cheap.”

“True.” Tyson batted his eyelashes at his husband. “We’re very lucky that we can afford to stay there this weekend while Nate and Jocelyne watch Birgitta. I intend to use the time alone with you very, very efficiently, you perfect Swede.”

“EW!” Bernie declared. Nate could only shudder and nod in agreement.

* * *

Two days later, Mikko came back to the store. “Hi.”

Nate dropped the coffee mug he’d been holding, causing a very loud noise. “Uh...hi.”

“Are you okay??” Mikko hurried over to the counter where Nate was standing.

“It’s fine.” Nate clapped his hands over the broken pieces, which turned back into a mug.

Mikko gasped. “You make those?! I’ve seen them everywhere - it’s really clever!”

Nate blushed. “People wanted a way to express their anger at Tyson’s boss for sending him and Kerfy away without their families. The schmuck made his fortune importing coffee, so this made sense. And it’s easier on the waistline than buying the nut-free products from Josty’s bakery.” Mikko looked confused, so Nate explained further: “Kerfy is allergic to nuts, so opting for nut-free stuff is...symbolic or something? J.T. is a meteorologist, so we can’t do anything involving his job.”

“Ahh,” Mikko nodded. “Well, I just stopped by -”

“Was there a problem with the bill?” Nate asked quickly.

“No, not at all! I just stopped by to see if -”

“Oh, no, I must have screwed up the jar!” Nate groaned. “My boss’s boyfriend’s bosses usually do that, but they were out of town and I didn’t want to make him even grumpier, so I figured it couldn’t be that hard -”

“Nate.” Mikko smiled gently. “The jar is perfect. I’m here for you, not for your work.”

Nate blinked. “Huh?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me this weekend.”

“Yes! Of course! Anytime!”

“I’ll pick you up Friday at six.”

“Here!” Nate wrote down Gabe and Tyson’s address. “Er, uh, there! Not here!”

“I understand. See you then.”

Only after Mikko disappeared in a puff of smoke did Nate realize his mistake.

* * *

Four people and the plushies were laughing.

“It’s not that funny,” Nate scowled.

“Yes, it is,” Gabe managed to say. “You tell us at 5:55 on Friday night, right before Tyson and I leave you to babysit, that you have a date at six?!”

A knock on the door stopped the laughter. Tyson opened it and started laughing again. “You must be here for Nate.”

“Yes…?” Mikko looked very confused once Tyson led him inside. “Did something change plans for you, too, Nate?”

“More like I forgot that I already had plans,” Nate sighed. “I promised to help babysit Birgitta.”

“Oh. That sounds nicer than my problem: I was going to take you to the waterfront for a picnic, but the weather’s no good. I hoped you would have an idea.”

“I have one,” Jocelyne said. “You can be an extra babysitter while Birgitta and I work on breaking the connection between Nate and Bernie.”

“Uh...sure.”

“Excellent!” Tyson gave Birgitta a quick kiss on the cheek, then started pulling Gabe towards the door. “Bye!”

Once they were gone, Birgitta held out her hand. “I’m Birgitta.”

“I’m Mikko.”

“Hi, Mr. Mikko.” They shook hands. “Sorry you can’t go out with Uncle Nate.”

“It’s alright, little Swede.” 

Bernie growled. “We like Sweden around here, so…” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Watch your tone.” 

“And you are…?”

“Bernie. Hopefully soon to be freed from that screeching human.”

“I do not screech!”

Jocelyne rolled her eyes. “Let’s get to work.”

By the end of the evening, Bernie was back to being a plushie as opposed to a life-size dog, which made him, Birgitta, and the other plushies happy. Birgitta had also learned how to intentionally make the plushies talk, which Mikko declared “even cuter than Nate.”

Unfortunately, Nate and Bernie were still somewhat connected. “We’ll have to find a time when both of us can come over and work on this with Tyson,” Jocelyne sighed. “Magic set off by big feelings is very tricky to change sometimes.”

“At least Mr. Mikko got to hang out with us,” Birgitta said. “I liked that.”

“So did I,” Nate said. He tentatively reached out for Mikko’s hand.

Mikko accepted it. “So did I.”

* * *

A few weeks and a handful of dates later, Nate asked Mikko to go with him to Tyson’s very formal farewell concert. Mikko accepted and met Nate at the shop right on time. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Nate had to gulp at how handsome Mikko looked in his suit. “Wow.”

“Same to you.” Mikko held out his hand. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Nate took Mikko’s hand, uncertain if he should grip it tightly or just let it rest. As they walked the short distance to the theater, Mikko squeezed Nate’s hand and leaned closer, causing Nate’s heart to pound even harder.

The theater was already very crowded by the time Nate and Mikko arrived. It took a good two minutes for them to take their seats in the front row.

There were trumpet noises. “MAKE WAY!!!!!! MAKE WAY FOR THE ADORABLE MUSE AND HER ENTOURAGE!”

Nate and Mikko turned around. Mikko adorably blinked in adorable confusion. “Who’s that?”

“Birgitta and her stuffed animals, of course. Gabe is the sexy muse, more than capable of navigating a crowd on his own.”

“No, I mean...who’s that guy carrying all of them and making all the noise?”

Nate chuckled fondly. “That’s E.J. He and Tyson bonded over a love for melodramatics.”

“I can see that.”

With a few more trumpet sounds, E.J. reached their row. “Shall I seat you and your loyal subjects here, Your Majesty? Or shall I take you away from these strange men?”

“HEY!”

Birgitta giggled. “They’re not strange! They’re Uncle Nate and Uncle Mikko!”

“Uncle?!” The word choice surprised all three adults.

“Unless, of course, he says too many mean things about Sweden,” Rocky clarified. “We reserve the right to downgrade him back to Mr. Mikko at any time.”

“And for the record, both of them still count as strange,” Bernie added. “I’m very glad to be rid of my connection to someone so prone to screeching.”

Nate scoffed. “I am not prone to screeching!”

“I think you're missing the point,” Mikko said. “What’s this about the connection?”

“Aunt Jocelyne and Daddy helped me break it without needing Uncle Nate!” Birgitta cheered. “Now Bernie’s mine again, like he wanted to be!”

Nate could only smile as E.J. got Birgitta and the plushies sitting down. By the time they were all settled, Gabe had arrived carrying several large buckets of popcorn. “One for Uncle E.J., one for Birgitta and me to share, and one for the two of you to share.” He winked very unsubtly at Nate and Mikko.

“Thank you.” Mikko took the offered bucket and leaned his leg against Nate’s.

A few minutes later, Tyson took the stage to lots of applause. “Thank you all for coming tonight. My first song this evening goes out to the man who asked me to marry him seven years ago tonight. He’s absolutely perfect, which is the main reason I insisted he be the biological father of our absolutely perfect daughter.”

“Really?” Mikko whispered.

“Really,” Nate whispered back. “With the words ‘absolutely perfect’ just like that.”

Tyson played the song, staring at Gabe with a lovesick look the entire time. Nate snuck a glance at Gabe and felt his chest tighten a little at how enamored Gabe looked. Would Mikko and Nate look at each other like that someday?

“My next song is for little Birgitta.” Tyson looked like he was about to say more, but instead he gulped loudly and started playing. 

The song was about love and didn’t directly talk about being far apart, but apparently Birgitta interpreted it that way and started crying. Tyson stopped the song and walked towards the edge of the stage, his arms stretched out. He nodded to E.J., who scooped up the plushies, then used his telekinesis magic to lift Birgitta onstage so Tyson could hug her.

“Please welcome to the stage the queen of the talking plushies, Miss Birgitta Landeskog,” E.J. requested, using his skills as a motivational speaker to effortlessly project throughout the theater. The audience responded with even more applause than earlier, and the concert resumed with Birgitta not leaving Tyson’s side.

* * *

About three weeks after Tyson and Alexander left for Toronto, an apartment unexpectedly opened up in their building. Mikko asked Nate if he wanted it, Nate said yes, and Mikko started a conversation about them moving in together. In a matter of days, the two of them were the proud owners of the apartment, albeit nowhere ready to actually live there, and meant they were currently having dinner with Gabe, Birgitta, and the plushies.

“Do you like the food, Birgitta?” Gabe asked. 

Before she could answer, they heard the “noot NOOT!” of an incoming letter or package. 

Gabe held out his hand for it...but nothing appeared. “Huh.”

Then there was another “noot NOOT noot NOOT!”

This time, Nate held out his hand. Still nothing appeared. “Uh…”

And once again, noticeably louder: “noot NOOT noot NOOT noot NOOT!”

“This would be really weird, but…” Mikko held out his hand. Still nothing.

This time it was close to an alarm: “noot NOOT!”

“It must be for you, Birgitta,” Rocky said.

So Birgitta held out her hand. A package landed there. “To Miss Birgitta Grieg-Celine Landeskog. NOT TO BE OPENED BY ANYONE ELSE, NOT EVEN HER PERFECT SWEDISH PAPA.”

Gabe frowned. “Why am I not allowed to open it?”

“Because Daddy says so.” Birgitta tapped the seal with her thumb, which caused the package to open magically. She looked inside and squealed. “It’s a polar bear plushie!”

As Birgitta began to carefully work her magic on the plushie, the situation began to make sense to Nate. “Jocelyne is on vacation, so Birgitta’s the only one here who can bring them to life!”

The plushie blinked, then spoke. “Hi! Carlton the Bear, he/him.”

“Hi! Birgitta, she/her.”

“I know! Your daddy and your Uncle Alexander sent me to join your royal court. It’s an honor, Your Majesty!”

Gabe chuckled at the Tyson-esque silliness. “How did you meet that husband of mine?”

“First, I have a message for you, Papa: Daddy loves you very much.” Everyone cooed before Carlton continued. “I was in a store in Toronto. In walked a charming man talking about his adorable daughter and perfect Swedish husband to another, slightly less charming man. And then a group of tourists came in, talking in their language very angrily. And all of a sudden, they started shouting about Celine Dion! So the slightly less charming man ducked, the charming man started flailing and shouting, and then I started shouting, too! Eventually, we all calmed down, and it turned out the tourists were angry that their travel agent hadn't booked them tickets to see Celine Dion despite them paying extra fees for it. Uncle Alexander introduced himself and said that he knew people, so he was able to get them tickets - right on the spot!”

“Very nice!” Mikko declared. “And how was it decided to send you here?”

“Well, the tourists wanted to thank Uncle Alexander, so they offered to buy him as many plushies as he wanted. He said he didn’t want to get any plushies without his husbands there to help him pick, so he told the tourists to buy me for your Daddy instead - he thought it was a sign that I had started shouting when your Daddy started shouting. The tourists bought me for your Daddy, and he was happy, but when we got back to his place, he realized I would be lonely there while he was working, so he decided to send me here. And Uncle Alexander used his magic to make sure the package clearly stated that Papa couldn’t open it, just to be on the safe side.”

“He’s careful like that,” Nate confirmed. “We should have you meet his husbands soon.”

“Yeah!” Birgitta cheered. “We should invite them to your new apartment!”

“Works for me,” Mikko said.

Carlton paused. “Are you Uncle Nate or Uncle Mikko?”

“I’m Uncle Mikko, about to kiss Uncle Nate.” He did so.

“EWWW!” the plushies declared.

Once he had stopped shuddering, Carlton spoke. “I have a message for you, Uncle Nate: T-Bear says Nate Dog deserves to be happy, even if he sometimes forgets that.”

“Thanks, Carlton.” Nate looked around, then leaned a little closer to Mikko. “I am happy.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always greatly appreciated!


End file.
